Container cap or closure



Oct. 10, 1939. c. HAMMER 2,175,350

CONTAIRER CAP 0R CLOSURE Filed July 21, 1937 Patented Oct. 10, 1939 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,175,350 comma car on. CLOSURE Charles Hammer, Garden City, N. 2.

Application July 21., 1937, Serial No. 154341? This invention relates to caps or closures for containers or receptacles, the object of the invention being to provide an improved preformed, rotatable, severable reseal cap whereby a con- 6 tainer or receptacle such as a bottle or jar may be effectively sealed and rescaled and yet so constructed that, when replaced on the container,

the cap will indicate that the container has been opened and thus prevent tampering with the 10 contents thereof.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved cap severable without the use of objectionable scoring, score lines or tearoff strips.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a preformed, rotatable, severable cap provided with means for sealing both the upper edge and the mouth or iieck'of the container.

In the manufacture of severable caps, it has been the practice to accomplish this result either by scoring the cap so as to enable one part of the cap to be severed from another along the score lines or by providing tear-oil! strips.

The art has recognized thatscore lines are objectionable because of the difllculty of accurately gauging the depth of the score lines since, if not scored deeply enough, the cap will not tear, or will tear unequally. Consequently, the accuracy required has made the caps difficult to manufacture and, therefore, objectionable to manufacture especially in view of the fact that repeated use of scoring tools affects their emciency and causes complaint by customers.

Tear-off strips are also highly objectionablesince frequently it is difficult to sever the strip along a predetermined line resulting in but a portion of the band being removed and requiring the application of tools to remove the cap. Furthermore, it is not infrequent that manipulation of such strips results in injuries to the hands of the user which have sometimes. proven to be of serious character. Consequently, customers have taken a strong dislike to such style of caps. Therefore, it is the object of the present improvement to provide a severable cap which is not dependent upon either score lines or tear-oil strips or the application of tools to insure its removal.

Metal caps or closures which would indicate tampering with the contents of a container have been patented but either they have not proven very successful or they are of that form in which the cap is made of some thin pliable metal which will permit the cap to be pressed or molded on to the container to conform to the shape thereof,

65 in other words, caps of pliable metalin which (or. QEMQ) the locking elements such as threads are formed when the cap is applied to the container and, therefore, in handling they are easily bent out of shape and are not eflicient in rescaling the container as -is av preformed metal cap, that is, one in which the metal is sufficiently rigid to permit the cap with its locking elements'or threads to be formed on a machine and applied to the container without the necessity of shaping or molding it thereon which requires time and is expensive, while its re-use to preserve thecontents of the container, due to its light flimsy character, is materially interfered with.

Another object of the invention, therefore, as hereinbefore stated, is to provide an improved preformed cap, that is, one in which the cap may be eiliciently and inexpensively made by machinery and shippedin quantities for quick and easy application to containers without the molding or shaping -of the threads while on the container.

- Furthermore, it has been the practice to use, in connection with rotatable caps, sealing disks for sealing the edge of the container but I believe I am the first to provide a combined severable cap and sealingmedium which will not only indicate that the contents of the container have been tampered with but will emciently seal the upper edge of the container and also the interior neck thereof.

Therefore, one of the objects of the present improvement is the provision of an improved cap readily severable without the use of objectionable tear-off strips or score lines to indicate tampering with the contents of the container and having combined therewith a sealing medium of such form that it. will efficiently seal f not only the upper edge of the container but also the interior neck.

In the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification,

Fig. 1 illustrates in section this improved cap applied to the neck of a container such as a bottle.

Fig. 2 illustrates this improved cap in section partly rotated in a direction opposite to tha required forits application.

Fig. 3 illustrates this improved cap in section and having the improved sealing medium attached thereto.

Fig. 4 illustrates the upper portion of a container with the cap severed and the reseal part thereof removed.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of the cap illustrating the compressed, mill-weakened, severable flange, and a Fig. 6 illustrates the manner in which the mill-weakened flange is stretched during the rotation of the cap ofi of the container to sever it along the apex of the flange shown in Fig. 5.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several .views.

Before explaining in detail the present improvement and mode of operationthereof, I

desire to have it understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accom- I panying drawing since the invention is capable of other embodiments, and that the phraseology employed is for the purpose of description and. not of limitation.

In'the preferred form of cap herein shown, it is illustrated as a threaded cap although, obviously, it could be made with any suitable rotatable locking elements if desired and the improvements may be used with various styles of tainer, thereby permanently securing the lower part of the cap to the bottle, this bending, of course, taking place after the cap has been completely rotated on to the container.

The lower portion 5' of the skirt of the cap and the upper portion 5" of the depending portion 6 are milled whereby they are of less thickness, as at 2|, thus weakening this portion of the cap and it is at this thinned area that the cap is provided with the outwardly extending compressed flange 5.

In practice, if preferred, the milled portion at or adjacent to the apex of the annular severable flange may be scored, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 3, which also indicate the bend of the material, thereby further to weaken it if found desirable sense, in view of the fact that the weakened portion of the cap does not depend entirely upon such scored line, the objectionable features of such scoring, as hereinbefore referred to, are not present.

The cap may be provided with a suitable exteriorly knurled portion by means of which the cap may be rotated off or on to the container, as desired.

The cap may be used with suitable liners 25, Fig. 1, or with a sealing medium such as a flanged cork 26, see Fig. 3,, the part 21 of which projects into the neck of the container and eflectively seals the same while the flanged portion 28 thereof overlaps the upper edge of the neck and also seals this portion of the container. The flange 28 also effectively secures the cork within the cap, it being interlocked therewith. For this purpose, the outer edge of the flange is squeezed into an annular recess formed in the cap as Thus, in practice, the combined cork and cap may be applied or removed in a single operation, the rotation of the cap on to the bottle tightly compressing the cork thereinto and, at the same time, the rotation, of the cap in the opposite direction removing the cork with the threaded portion of the cap leaving the lower portion 6 spun around the shoulder of the container, see Fig. 4.

In the present improvement, the gradual ro- .more readily and quickly severed but this spreading action draws the two walls 5' and 5", see Fig. 6, apart and so lengthens them that the two parts will not properly flt together thereafter. Consequently, when the upper part of the cap is turned on to reseal the bottle, as the two parts no longer flt together, it can be readily detached both by the hand and the eye that the container has been unsealed and tampered with.

Thus, it will be seen that when the cap is rotated off of the container, that portion of the cap having the locking threads will be broken away along the mill-weakened apex of the annular projection 5, leaving the lower part of the cap 6 permanently secured to the bottle at the shoulder and with a raw edge 30, ,see Fig. 4, projecting upwardly since this depending portion 6 is unweakened, and, consequently insures the severance of one part of the cap from another along the apex ofthe projection so that,

while the threaded portion of the cap may be replaced to reseal the bottle to preserve its contents, it is impracticable effectively to replace it to conceal this edge.

Consequently, the user will immediately know that the bottle has been previously opened or tampered with whereas, with those caps that merely have a depending skirt provided with a slot or scored weakened lower portion and no outwardly extending annular ridge or projection, there is nothing to indicate when the cap has been replaced that the bottle has been: opened previously because the adjacent portions of the depending skirt can be brought so closely together as to appear practically as though the cap had never been removed. In other words, neither the eye nor hand can readily detect the fact that the cap portions have been previously separated.

In the present improvement, however, not only will the stretched and projecting raw edge of the separated portions of the cap indicate that the cap has been previously removed or tampered with by inspection, but the raw edge will indicate to the hand of the user such fact and this cannot well be concealed by any manipulation of the cap portions.

Therefore, I apprehend that I have provided a severable cap which not only can be preformed and, hence, made in quantities prior to their applications to containers, but I have provided one which will effectively and efficiently prevent tampering with the contents without detection.

The term "mill-weakened as used herein, has reference to that particular mechanical action in which a milling cutter is used to cut fine grooves or indentations across the face of the metal and in milling this cap, the metal can be almost out through or even perforated and thus so weakened that, in rotating the cap of! of the container, the parts thereof will be readily severed without the use of tear-ofi strips or scoring.

It is to be understood that; by describing in detail herein any particular form, structure or arrangement, it is not intended to limit the invention beyond the terms of the several claims or the requirements of the prior art.

Having thus explained the nature of my said invention and described a way of constructing and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use, I claim:

l. A closure cap comprising a skirt having preformed locking elements for rotatably securing the cap on to a container, a depending portion adjoining said skirt and adapted to be bent around a shoulder of a container, and a weakened outformed locking elements for rotatably securing the cap on to a container, a depending portion adjoining said skirt and adapted to be bent around a shoulder of a container, and an outwardly extending projection at the juncture of said skirt and depending portion with its walls in substantial juxtaposition and its apex beyond the plane of the skirt and depending portion and weakened, enabling the separation of the skirt and depending portion upon rotation of the cap ,7

0! the container, substantially at the apex and midway 01' said projection.

3. A closure cap comprising a skirt having pre-..

formed locking elements for rotatably securing the cap on to a container, a depending portion adjoining said skirt and adapted to be bent around a shoulder of a container, the lower portion of said skirt and the top portion of said depending portion having less thickness than the remainder of said skirt and depending portion, and an outwardly extending projection having its apex at the juncture of said skirt and depending portion enabling the separation of the skirt and depending portion upon rotation of the cap off the container, said closure severable only at the juncture of the skirt and dependingportion.

4. A closure cap comprising a skirt having preformed locking elements for rotatably securing the cap on to a container, a depending portion adjoining said skirt and adapted to be bent around a shoulder of a container, the lower portion of said skirt and the top portion of said depending portion having less thickness than the remainder of said skirt and depending portion, and an outwardly extending projection having its apex at the juncture of said skirt and depending portion i 3 and extending beyond the plane of said-skirt and depending portion with its walls substantially in juxtaposition, enabling the separation of the skirt and depending portion upon rotation of the cap oil the container, said closure severable only at the juncture of the skirt and depending portion, said cap also having a score within the area of said outwardly extending projection." 1

5. A closure cap comprising a skirt having preformed locking elements for rotatably securing the cap on to a container, a depending portion adjoining said skirt and adapted to be bent around a shoulder of a container, the lower portion of said skirit and the top portion of said depending I portion having a milled surface, thereby weakening it, and an" outwardly extending projection having its apex at the juncture of said skirt and depending portion and extending beyond the plane of said skirt and depending portion with its.

walls substantially in juxtaposition, enablingthe separation of the skirt and depending portion upon the rotation of the cap oil the container, said closure severable only at the juncture of the skirt and depending portion.

6. A closure cap comprising a skirt having preformed locking elements for rotatably securing around a shoulder of a container, and aweakened outwardly extending projection having-its apex at the juncture of said skirt and depending portion and extending beyond the plane of said skirt and depending portion with its walls substantially in juxtaposition, enabling the separation of the skirt and depending portion upon rotation of the cap of! the container. said closure severable only at the juncture of the skirt and depending portion, said cap having therein a sealingmedium overlapping the upper edge of the container and projecting thereinto to seal the interior thereof.

7. A closure cap comprising a skirt having preformed locking elements for rotatably securing the cap on to a container, a depending portion adjoining said skirt and adapted to be bent around and depending portion upon rotation of the cap the cap on ma container, a depending portioh .adjoining said skirt and adapted to be bent oil the container, said closure severable only at the juncture of the skirt and depending portion, said cap having 'therein a sealing medium overlapping the upper edge of the container and projecting thereinto to seal the interior thereof, said sealing medium interlocked with the closure and removable therewith.

. CHARLES HA'MIM'ER. 

